Resources for Students

The California Chancellor's Office held a state-wide webinar this morning. They
announced that they will be providing colleges with some additional information
regarding late withdrawals and other academic provisions in the near future.
Therefore, I encourage all students to take a "wait and see" approach before
changing your academic status. I want to be sure you are making informed
decisions and are aware of additional options that might become available to you.
I'm confident that the state and federal government will be providing college
students some flexibility and academic options in this unusual event.

One commitment that Cabrillo has just made today is to extend the deadline dates
for course withdrawal for the EW (Emergency Withdrawal) grade. The EW option
allows you to get a refund on your course and also does not penalize you with your
academic record here. You do not have to rush into a decision right now. Cabrillo
College will be extending the emergency course withdrawal deadline date through
the end of April to give students more time to adapt to the online environment as
well as deal with all the life disruptions that are occurring during this time. I ask
that you continue to do your best in completing your coursework and communicate
often with your instructors. Give yourself some time to adjust to all the changes
before making a decision as there is now no rush to meet a deadline. If you had
already filed for an Emergency Withdrawal and would like to cancel your request so
that you have some additional time to assess, please contact Admissions and Records.

For those of you who may have had courses that were cancelled, please be aware
that you don't need to do anything. The college will be refunding you for any course
that was cancelled and we will handle all of that for you. You don't need to request
anything or fill out any paperwork. If your course was cancelled, you will get a
communication from us with the timeline and process for refunds.

I want to encourage all of you to take care of yourselves, your families and friends,
take a deep breath, and just continue to stay informed by following updates and
notifications as they occur. Things change rapidly so it's good to keep checking
your emails and our homepage. Cabrillo staff and faculty are doing everything they
can do during this time to assist our students.

As always, feel free to reach out to me if you have other questions. I am here to
help.

Taking care of yourself, your friends, and your family can help you cope with stress. Please see the Mental Health Tip Sheet, In English and Spanish, with tips on how to cope with stress and find local mental health resources. Please share widely.

If you have questions about Coronavirus/COVID-19, please call (831) 454-4242 between the hours of 8 am and 6 pm, Monday-Friday. Outside of these hours please call United Way of Santa Cruz County at 211 or text "covid19" to 211211.

General Resources

The first portion of the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act emergency funds have been automatically dispersed to Cabrillo students based on an income ranking. These awards were for $500. The second phase of funding will be awarded to students based on a priority ranking lottery system that will factor income, enrollment, and other criteria through an application process. The grants will be $500 awards and students will be notified if they receive one. Awards will go out weekly until the funding is gone. Students who receive funding in Phase One will not be eligible for Phase Two funding.

The Cabrillo College Emergency grant program is currently suspended. At this time we do not have funding to continue the program. If additional funding becomes available, we will reopen the application. Please visit the other links for other available resources.

For Food support, students are encouraged to call 831-662-0991 for the food resource hotline. This provides days, locations, and hours of operation for food pantries in the county.

Students can get information and assistance with the CalFresh food program at CalFresh or Karen Reyes

Hygiene Kits, Dry Shampoo, Baby Wipes, and Mylar thermal blankets are available upon request from Robin West, Cabrillo Retention Program Coordinator, at 831-477-3382.

For the most up to date information on county services that are open, call: 211 can help you find food, housing, health care, senior services, child care, showers, legal aid and much more. Call 211.
Free, Confidential. Multilingual. Available 24/7. 211 web page

Santa Cruz Community Credit Union is offering emergency loans and financial assistance to support its nearly 14,000 members and the community during the current COVID-19 outbreak.

For current members with loans, SCCCU has initiated a variety of options including, payment skips, increased credit limits, business loan extensions and more. If members need more cash at the ATMs, they can call the Credit Union and we can increase members’ limits at the ATMs.

Two Emergency Loan options are available today; personal loans up to $1,000 at 2.0% Annual Percentage Rate (APR) with up to 12-months for repayment, or $1,000–$5,000 at 3.0% APR with up to a 36-month repayment. Community members may apply for the loan, but need to establish membership, which can be completed easily. The Credit Union also accepts ITINs for membership and loan applications.

During the current sheltering mandate, the Credit Union’s three branches in Santa Cruz, Soquel and Watsonville remain open. Although Saturday branch hours are temporarily closed until further notice, current SCCCU hours are Monday through Friday, 9am–5pm and until 6pm on Fridays. Open hours may change in the coming weeks, so we encourage everyone to visit Santa Cruz Community Credit Union’s website for updated notices and service changes.

Due to COVID-19 we have had to shift how we do our work and how we assist our communities. Below are some of the provisions being made by PG&E for customers. These new guidelines became effective immediately:

PG&E announced it had voluntarily implemented a moratorium on service disconnections for non-payment. This suspension will apply to both residential and commercial customers and will remain in effect until further notice.

PG&E has outlined a series of billing and service modifications to support customers who have been impacted by the virus. However, customers must self-certify that they are experiencing economic hardship due to the COVID-19 so their accounts can be flagged, please ask them to call 1-800-743-5000. If they register, customers will be able to receive the following:

PG&E is offering flexible payment plans.

PG&E is waiving reconnection fees and return check fees.

PG&E is waiving new security deposits for up to one year.

All PG&E customer service centers were closed as of Tuesday, March 17th in accordance with social distancing measures. Customers who typically pay their bills at one of these centers can

go to pge.com to learn how to pay online or to find nearby Neighborhood Payment Centers

Technology Resources

Charter, Spectrum and Comcast are offering two months of free internet to low-income households. WiFi hotspots will also be open for the public. Please direct students or anyone in need to the numbers below to arrange services:

Charter and Spectrum: 1-844-488-8395

Comcast: 855-846-8376 for English speakers or 855-765-6995 for Spanish speakers

Students who use the CTC for support, CTC and CABT faculty and staff are still around to help! They put together a page today to help support students who usually come to the CTC via Zoom.
CTC tutors, faculty, and staff, will have live links available when they are on Zoom, so that they can support students. We already had a few students join us on this afternoon on Zoom today!CTC website.

Log into your account and click the help icons at the banner on the top of the page or on the left navigation bar.

Students can also get support for Tax Preparation. Students should email Project Scout and include their name, age, and zip code. They will be contacted and given assistance online.

Due to the shelter in place directive, the payroll office will not be handing out live checks. These checks will be mailed to the address on file before 3/31.

Tutoring Resources

GOOGLE:
To access writing support, please email your essay or share your Google doc with ILCwritingtutor@gmail.com. We have staff checking this email 7 days a week. You will get feedback as soon as possible. Feedback might take a few hours or no more than 24 hours turnaround time.

ZOOM:

Math (all levels)

Monday - Friday 10 am - 8 pm

Saturday 12 pm - 4 pm

Writing / ESL/ English

Monday - Friday 12 pm - 2 pm

Spanish

Monday - Friday 4 - 6 pm

Please use our Zoom link to access online live tutoring in the following subjects during posted times.

Beginning Tuesday, March 17 all face to face tutoring sessions will be canceled in the HUB (Tutoring Center, MLC, and ELC). During this time, we are working to create a virtual tutoring format through Zoom. Tutoring sessions will resume in a virtual format (more information to come) following Spring Break.
Please check in regularly for updates regarding hours of operation and virtual tutoring session posted on The HUB Website.
Thank you for your understanding and patience as we shift to the online tutoring format.

The ASC is open remotely every day between 8 and 5. All appointments will take place by phone or by zoom scheduling.
Please use the new ASC department email address asc@cabrillo.edu for the most efficient way to schedule an appointment with an ASC counselor or specialist.
You can also contact faculty or staff directly by going to the Staff Directory page and clicking Send Message.

If you need to schedule an appointment with a Cabrillo Counselor or University Representative regarding your admission decision for Fall 2020, please E-mail your request to counselor@cabrillo.edu.